


before you say something real

by marigolds



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (that's a tag now), Drunkenness, Five Times, Friends who Kiss, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 01:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1100600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marigolds/pseuds/marigolds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh,” Liam says, reaching up with his free hand to scratch the back of his head. He squints a little, as if questioning the fact that there’s a sprig of mistletoe above their heads, and then shrugs, tipping his head down to kiss Louis at the corner of his mouth. | Or, five times Louis and Liam kiss in the same night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	before you say something real

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to write something cutesy and Christmas-y, but then it turned into something sadder, as it tends to when I'm the one writing a story. I didn't edit this at all, so any mistakes are mine. Happy Holidays!

i.

There is a chorus of  _ooooh_ ’s the moment Liam and Louis step through the door of the Christmas party Harry’s throwing in his flat, Liam chivalrously carting the bottles of wine that Louis couldn’t carry when he was pulling things out of the car (and saying more than a few choice words under his breath).

Both boys pause, sharing a confused look, when someone (who sounds suspiciously like Niall when he’s drunk-but-still-pretending-to-just-be-tipsy-to-save-his-Irish-face-or-whatever) shouts, “kiss!” and then again, with more vigor, “ _kiss_!”

“Um,” Louis says, before glancing up. “Oh,” he says.

“Oh,” Liam says beside him, reaching up with his free hand to scratch the back of his head. He squints a little, as if questioning the fact that there’s a sprig of mistletoe above their heads, and then shrugs, tipping his head down to kiss Louis at the corner of his mouth. He pulls back with a shy smile, ignoring the excited hollering of the partygoers, and then holds up the bottle of wine, shouting, “we’ve brought booze!”

ii.

Louis is slightly tipsy and itching for a smoke about an hour in, so he catches Zayn by the arm and bums a cigarette before heading out to the balcony. He stands alone for a long moment, gazing out over the skyline as he lights the tip, and he’s barely got the Marlboro pressed to his lips before the glass doors slide open and Liam steps out, cheeks pinked from alcohol, lips bitten a dark red.

“Hey,” Louis greets casually, grinning at his bandmate as he reaches up to adjust Liam’s beanie. “Honestly,” he tuts, but his eyes are fond, crinkling at the edges in mirth.

“What’re you doing out here?” Liam asks, voice a little labored but otherwise fine. He drops his elbows on the bar - the only thing between them an empty air, Louis considers - and leans forward, but Liam keeps his gaze trained on Louis, who raises a brow and brandishes the cigarette between his fingers. Liam snorts, rectifying his statement. “Why do you  _need_  one?”

“Simmer down,  _dad_ ,” Louis teases, chuckling when Liam wrinkles his nose at the title. “I dunno,” Louis hedges after a silence, tapping out ashes over the railing, “I guess I just wanted one? I like to have something in my mouth.”

“Ew,” Liam states, keeping a straight face even as Louis’ contorts to hide a smile.

“Well,” Louis says huffily, tossing the cigarette over the balcony. “Better than you walking out here to find me with a cock down my throat, I suppose?”

Liam splutters a bit, the tips of his ears going red while Louis has a hearty laugh at his expense.

“Not really a mental image I wanted, but okay,” Liam says eventually, evenly. Louis raises a brow, taking a very purposeful step towards him.

“Then why,” he says, getting close enough to Liam that their noses would brush if Liam tilted his head the right way, “would you ask?” Louis grins, batting his eyelashes. Liam’s tongue darts out to lick at his own lips nervously, and it makes Louis feel mischievous, so he presses forward, licking his way into Liam’s mouth and then wrapping his lips around Liam’s tongue, sucking at it.

He pulls back, then, eyes glinting. Liam looks equal parts shocked and -

Well. Louis isn’t going to go there.

“...Why did you...?” Liam mutters, tapering off in embarrassment.

“I said I liked to have things in my mouth,” Louis replies nonchalantly, purposefully nudging Liam’s shoulder on his way back inside.

iii.

“You,” Harry slurs, wrapping his arms around Louis’ waist from behind, “are very, very naughty.”

“Mmph,” Louis says, frowning at the drop of red wine Harry made him spill on the carpet. “Why’s that?”

“‘ _Cause_ ,” Harry says, walking them both forward. “I dunno. You’re not talking t’me.”

Louis sighs, carefully prying Harry’s fingers apart and taking a few deliberate steps out of reach. He fixes Harry with a serious look, suddenly feeling very, very tired. “You promised you wouldn’t,” Louis reminds him, tightening his jaw.

“I - I know,” Harry murmurs slowly, dropping his face into his hands. “Lou, m’sorry.”

“S’fine,” Louis deflects, ignoring his pounding heart.

“Things alright over here?”

Louis flinches when someone drops a hand to his shoulder, only relaxing when he sees Liam next to him, arm wrapped protectively around him. He leans into him a little, staring into his drink.

“Y-Yeah,” Harry responds after a minute, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “S’just...”

“I know,” Liam says softly. Louis feels him nod. “You’re a bit drunk, Haz. You should sit for a while.”

“You’re probably right,” Harry relents, and Louis can  _feel_  his eyes on him as he dodders away.

“I’m fine - ” Louis breathes at the same time Liam asks, “y’alright?”

Louis spares him a small smile, then goes on his tiptoes to kiss the apple of Liam’s cheek. “Thanks,” he whispers.

iv.

At some point after midnight, Louis gets drunk enough that a stranger manages to convince him to wrap himself up in Christmas lights. It has been fifteen minutes since then, and he’s still so tangled up in them that he doesn’t know where to even  _begin_  disentangling.

“Louis,” Liam sighs, helping him into a sitting position from where he’d eventually just laid down on the floor.

“Li!” Louis says. “I’m stuck.” He pouts.

“I know,” Liam replies, running his hands along Louis’ body in search for the end of the light string. “Want to tell me why you decided this was a good idea?”

Louis clicks his tongue, thinking about this for a moment. He then blurts, “I’m drunk.”

Liam doesn’t grace him with an answer. Instead, he manages to track down the end of the string and begins unraveling the lights from Louis’ body, having to step in a circle around him to do so. Once it’s loose enough for Louis to pull his arms from the light string, he winds them around Liam’s neck and kisses his chin.

Liam rolls his eyes fondly, bumps their foreheads together, and unwinds the chord from his legs.

v.

“Hold my hand?” Louis asks.

Liam blinks, rolling onto his side in Harry’s bed. (Louis had dragged him in Harry’s room earlier, insisting that his reasons were innocent, but Liam - he knows he just misses the way Harry’s sheets smell like him, the way only one side of the comforter is rumpled because Harry still leaves room for Louis in the bed. Liam wishes he understood it more, or at least a bit  _better_ , but.)

“Okay,” Liam agrees, reaching for Louis’ hand and allowing Louis to twine their fingers together.

They’re quiet for a moment, Louis staring at the ceiling and Liam staring at Louis, and then Louis lets out this pathetic little sigh, rolling over so his forehead presses just beneath Liam’s jaw.

“I miss him,” he admits, softly. His voice hardly carries over the unsteady thrum of their heartbeats.

Liam exhales slowly, presses his lips to Louis’ forehead. Murmurs, “I know.”


End file.
